12.29.2004
Drought Food
Even my mom knows what to do after a natural disaster. Samoans have drought food - special recipes for food you cook during abnormal times. When all the fruit trees have fallen down and the animals are dying and the seas are empty, when theres been a hurricane, you prepare and bury lots of breadfruit and taro, and when you dig it up it will have pickled, or preserved, and then you can eat it until all the crops grow back. And people have places to hide during a hurricaine - up in the mountains, certain churches, maybe the whole village goes to a school. About every 7 years hurricaines come and destroy villages. FEMA is getting tired of schleping around for the American Samoan islands - maintaining colonies is hard! So they forbid us from rebuilding certain coastal villages. But the samoans in independant Samoa do fine on the coasts because everyone just builds semi permanent houses... always rebuilding and extending them as kids grow up and leave, move back when new kids are born. Or, as hurricaines knock them down.
My mom used to cook drought food - I can't imagine that drought is the correct translation - when she wanted to cook samoan food but no ingredients in Boston - she would make dumplings and pancakes and soups, all from flour, sugar and water.
The word for any kind of canned good, but primarily Corned Beef, is 'peasoupo.' Comes from the aid shipments of pea soup during some crisis or another.
Anyways, I feel bad for the tsunami victims. We have ways of dealing with moderate disaster, but these great waves are different. There are tribes on the andaman and nicobar islands that are ancient, and it is possible that many of them were killed outright.
I didn't know that we lost the vietnam war outright. I think somehow my history books ended at the Paris Peace Accords, and I never learned that the Ho later took over the entirety of the country. Embarrassing lack of knowledge.
The boy is spending new years with me and meeting the family. On the one hand its low key, on the other hand, its a little bit not. I'm expecting to have fun, you know, jacuzzis, free wine, nice clothes, jumping on the bed in the hotel room, hanging out with lolipop and cousin 007...
But I'm never sure what is the most successful way to introduce people. I think... I think the best way is not to get all anxious, but to think about potential problems beforehand, and then go in prepared and confident. Am I making too much of this? I don't know. Anyhow, lots of errands to run between now and later, a database to try and finish, shoes to buy. Beatiful day today, got into work early so I can leave at 5. Rock on.
- ATLMmim
My mom used to cook drought food - I can't imagine that drought is the correct translation - when she wanted to cook samoan food but no ingredients in Boston - she would make dumplings and pancakes and soups, all from flour, sugar and water.
The word for any kind of canned good, but primarily Corned Beef, is 'peasoupo.' Comes from the aid shipments of pea soup during some crisis or another.
Anyways, I feel bad for the tsunami victims. We have ways of dealing with moderate disaster, but these great waves are different. There are tribes on the andaman and nicobar islands that are ancient, and it is possible that many of them were killed outright.
I didn't know that we lost the vietnam war outright. I think somehow my history books ended at the Paris Peace Accords, and I never learned that the Ho later took over the entirety of the country. Embarrassing lack of knowledge.
The boy is spending new years with me and meeting the family. On the one hand its low key, on the other hand, its a little bit not. I'm expecting to have fun, you know, jacuzzis, free wine, nice clothes, jumping on the bed in the hotel room, hanging out with lolipop and cousin 007...
But I'm never sure what is the most successful way to introduce people. I think... I think the best way is not to get all anxious, but to think about potential problems beforehand, and then go in prepared and confident. Am I making too much of this? I don't know. Anyhow, lots of errands to run between now and later, a database to try and finish, shoes to buy. Beatiful day today, got into work early so I can leave at 5. Rock on.
- ATLMmim
